The Fox and The Hare
by Ghostritter
Summary: A story about Plucky the fox and Dash the hare.


Chapter 1: The Fox and The Hare

"Woah!", said the red fox cub in wonder as he looked over the meadows from the hill top where he stood. It is the middle of a lazy spring afternoon. The warm sun's rays and the cool gentle breeze feels good on the little fox cub's fur. The grass and leaves of the trees swayed to the wind, making a peacefully comforting sound.

"So this is White Deer Park. Mom said it was a big and beautiful place. But she never said it was this big."

Having never been away from his family's den, the fox cub is overwhelmed with curiosity to explore his new found world. Every sight, sound and smell of his surroundings just had to be experienced. Playfully, the fox cub runs down the hill top. He wants to run all over the meadow as far as his little legs would take him.

As he makes half way across the field, the presence of another creature caught his attention. It is the sound of another set of light small paws running through the field and it sounds like it is following him. The fox cub quickly stops and turns around to see who or what this creature is but sees nothing. He perks up his ears, twitching it in different directions, trying to know where the sound of these small paws is coming from but the sound suddenly stops.

Now unable to hear the small creature, the fox cub decides to ignore it and continue on his way to play through the meadows as he had intended. But just as he turns around, he is cut off with the sight of a strange small creature standing right in front of him. The surprise made the fox cub jump back and made the small creature giggle at him.

"Did I scare you?", asked the small creature with a mischievous tone.

"No. You just surprised me.", said the fox cub curiously walking towards the creature he has never seen before. "Are you some kind of a field mouse? I've never seen a field mouse with ears as long as yours before.", he said.

"I'm not a field mouse. I'm a hare.", replied the creature.

"No you're not. I've seen hares before visit my grandmother's den and you're too small to be a hare."

"I'm a baby hare, stupid. Hares aren't born grown up, you know."

"Oh, okay. I'm a fox. We're not born grown up either.", replied the fox cub. He felt a little silly so he hid it with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, I figured." The little leveret started dashing in circles around the fox cub. "What's your name?"

"I'm Plucky.", he said proudly, puffing his chest fur.

"What kind of a name is Plucky? It sounds goofy."

Plucky frowns at the energetic little hare. "No it isn't. My mom said my name takes after my dad's, Bold. Like his, it also means brave. It's a great name."

"Well, I think its silly."

"What's your name, then?"

The little hare stops dashing around and jumps right in front of Plucky. "My name is Dash. Mom and dad gave me that name because they said I'm the fastest!"

"You're not that fast. You just like to run around a lot for no good reason."

Dash moves closer to the fox cub's face with a competitive look. "I am too and I can prove it. C'mon, race me!"

"You're on!" The fox and the hare set themselves up and readies for a race.

Dash points to an apple tree just at the edge of the meadow. "See that tree? First one to reach it is the fastest-" Before Dash could finish, Plucky bolts for the tree at top speed.

"Hey!" Dash runs after him with an annoyed expression. "I wasn't ready, fox boy!"

Feeling like he outsmarted the mean little hare, Plucky looks back at his pursuer with a grin on his face. Dash is catching up but Plucky is confident that he can keep the lead long enough until he reaches the apple tree. With his attention focused on Dash instead of where he's suppose to be going, Plucky trips on a small pebble and tumbles clumsily on the dirt ground. He slides on his back stopping short with his bushy fox tail inches away from the apple tree.

Within a second, a small furry blur runs past Plucky yelling "I'm fastest!"

Still lying on his back, Plucky sighs. "Alright, you win. You're the fastest, at least for now. But I'll beat you next time."

Dash happily hops towards the fox cub with a smile and looks at him from his inverted position on the ground. "I like you. You're pretty fast for a fox with a funny name." Dash sprints away. "You can challenge me any time for a rematch, Plucky."

Plucky rolls over and gets up on his feet. He shakes himself, dusting off the earth that messed up his fur and sees Dash in the distance speeding away. "She's strange. I wonder if all hares are like her."


End file.
